EVERYDAY PHOTOGRAPHY AND MOURNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Abstract

Photography has been associated with death and used for mourning practices since its inception. The invention of photography had a profound influence on how people remember and mourn the dead. Nowadays, the constant availability of mobile phone cameras, digital networks, social platforms, and new printing technologies have changed the kinds of photographs which are taken and how they are shared and displayed. The main question that this special issue examines is whether this socio-technological transition, caused by a shift in digital and technological cultures, affects photographic mourning practices, and how? While the digital shift in photography has been extensively documented and debated in academic literature, its impact on private and public mourning practices has remained largely unaddressed. This special issue of photographies aims to shed light on the interplay between digital everyday photography and mourning in the 21 century. In 2021, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and when many areas were still in lockdown, we released a call for papers for a special issue titled ‘Everyday Photography and Mourning in the 21 Century.’ We received an overwhelming response to the call; proof that many researchers, authors, and artists are currently looking into the relationship between photography, mourning, and new technologies. Through a competitive peerreviewed process, seven papers were selected — six of them appear in this issue and one appeared in the previous issue (volume 15, issue 3). Although one of the papers appeared in